A Day Traveling Through Iowa

After traveling only about 15 miles, we said good-bye to Minnesota and...

hello to Iowa.

Charming Welcome Center for Iowa.

I never get tired of seeing handsome farms.

Maybe this is part of what Iowa considers "Fields of Opportunities".

After traveling through the farmlands of Iowa all day, it was jarring to come to Cedar Rapids.

Tomorrow we arrive in Oak Brook, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago where we will be visiting my brother Jack and our sister-in-law Cheryl.  Since we will be visiting family, there will be no Venturing4th for the next few days.  Enjoy your vacation!!

Late addition - 

This evening's sunset...

over the Iowa horizon.

Albert Lea

Ten miles down I-90 from our RV park in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, was the border with Minnesota. We were on I-90 all day today, and we are now two-thirds of the way across the bottom on Minnesota, in Albert Lea for the night.

A big welcome from Minnesota.

Lots of beautiful farms, most surrounded by corn fields.

Humongous power line poles along the highway.

Maybe the poles are carrying power from these wind turbines. There were lots of them along the interstate.

Chain Saw Art

We don't have much to show for the day, lots of catch-up work and a trip to Sioux Falls Costco.

We did notice this chain-saw sculpture in the RV park. It's a nice change from the bear!

At the End of South Dakota

Our first task this morning was to cross the Missouri which we did with a nod of acknowledgement to Lewis & Clark.

Several bridges...

cross the Missouri at Chamberlain.

We began to notice lots of hokey signs. Actually, Vet's Whoa n' Go turns out to be in Minnesota.

We waved as we passed through Mitchell, South Dakota, home to the Corn Palace and...

soon we were on the outskirts of Sioux Falls where there is this field of weird sculptures made from "found" items. On Monday, when we leave Sioux Falls, we only have about 10 miles to drive before we're in Minnesota.

On the Shores of the Missouri

Just like Lewis and Clark, we are camped tonight on the shores of the Missouri River. Today we drove from our "home" in Box Elder to half way across the state of South Dakota and the Missouri River.

Yes! We are in Wall Drug territory.

A forlorn looking shelter. There was quite a bit of haze in the air; forest fires, I guess.

Close to the Badlands.

We resisted the temptation and stayed on I-90.

Badlands to the south and...

fields of sunflowers. Their little heads were down because of the hazy sky.

Our favorite landmark on the drive across South Dakota.

Artistic harvesting.

Approaching the Missouri.

Good for Another Six Years - 8/31/17

The main reason why we travelled along I-90 to Box Elder, South Dakota, is that our driver's licenses are about to expire (after 5 years!!) and I needed to get mine renewed. While we were there we got the paperwork for Frederick to renew his license on-line when he is six months out from his birthday in July.

There it is, our "home" building on the edge of Rapid City.

Americas Mailbox also has a few spots for RVs to hook-up. Not very glamorous, but it served our purpose!

Canyon Rim North - 8/27/17

It was a beautiful day to hike along the Canyon's North Rim which is loaded with world-famous scenery of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

Brink of the Lower Falls.

View of the Lower Falls from Lookout Point, above the trail to Red Rock Point.

We took the trail down to Red Rock Point where a nice woman took our picture with the Falls in the background.

Lower Falls from Red Rock Point.

Lunch Spot at the top of the trail to the Brink of the Lower Falls. We didn't take that trail again having done that in the spring.

View of the Upper Falls from our lunch spot.

Today's hike:
Length - 4.2 miles (6.83 km)
Duration - 2 hours, 22 minutes
Elevation gain - 542 feet (162 meters)

Traveling "Home" - 8/30/17

We had a great Service Advisor, Shawn, in Billings and he recognized the problem we have been having with the fuel injectors which causes the check engine light to come on. The "fix" he suggested (and Mercedes, too) is to add a bottle of cetane to the fuel tank. The injectors then perceive that the cetane in the fuel is rich enough and they're happy. We shall see if we are happy and this solves the problem. The provident coincidence is that Shawn spotted an oil leak from the new hose that we had installed in El Paso back in the winter. We had to stay an extra day in Billings for the hose to be sent from Los Angles, but we feel fortunate that this problem was found in the shop.

Leaving Billings, we saw some of the industry makes Billings a thriving city. 

Leaving Billings we headed diagonally across the south eastern corner of Montana, across about 15-miles of Wyoming and in to Rapid City, South Dakota, our "home".

This part of Montana is virtually un-inhabited but...

the scenery along the highway had lots of hills, knobs and bumps.

Also, some artistic wheat fields and...

Black-Eyed Susans along the roadside. They look like they could have been planted as an edging - charming.

Home at last!

Billings - 8/28/17

Travel day back out the North Entrance all the way to I-90 and on to Billings. We were anxious to get to Billings because - Suprise! - the check engine light came on in the car and there is a Mercedes-Benz dealer in Billings.

The Gardner River near the North Entrance to Yellowstone National Park.

Park tour busses at the ready. The North Entrance/Mammoth is where the Park Headquarters is.

Scenery, with the Gardner River, at the North Entrance.

Roosevelt Gate at the North Entrance.

Along the route from the North Entrance to I-90.